1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to a foldable, erectable display stand for supportably displaying articles and, more particularly, to a support platform mountable on, and removable from, the stand for enabling the stand with the articles loaded thereon to be moved from one place to another, either with the aid of lifting equipment and/or by manually pushing and rolling the stand to a desired location.
2. Description of the Related Art
Foldable, erectable display stands for use, for example, in warehouse stores, supermarkets or other retail stores for display of articles or goods on sale are already known. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,493,424; U.S. Pat. No. 4,570,805; U.S. Pat. No. 4,646,922; U.S. Pat. No. 4,723,664 and No. RE-32,668.
Such stands are typically manufactured at one site, collapsed into a generally flattened condition in which they occupy a minimum amount of space individually and stacked on top of one another, and then are either shipped directly to a retail store, or to a packing center or warehouse, where the stands are erected in situ, and the articles are thereupon loaded onto the erected stands. Stands packed at the packing center are transported, typically by truck, to the retail store where the loaded stands are taken off the truck and moved to a desired location in the store.
Experience has shown that the conventional, foldable, erectable display stands are highly satisfactory for their intended purpose. However, when such stands are called upon to support substantial weight, e.g., beer cans, packaged hosiery, soda bottles, soap bars, etc., it has proven difficult to conveniently move the loaded stands from place to place. Thus, once a fully loaded stand is positioned in a retail store, it requires considerable effort to reposition the stand. Also, moving a fully loaded stand off a truck to a desired location in a store typically requires a forklift having a power-operated prong that can be raised and lowered for insertion underneath the display stand. To assist such lifting, it is known to position the display stand on a wooden pallet, or to glue a pair of skids on the bottom of a display stand to elevate the stand above the floor.
To enable easier movement of the loaded stand, the art has proposed the use of separate hand trucks and wheeled components of the type exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 3,856,320; U.S. Pat. No. 4,461,504 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,632,412, as well as U.K. Patent No. 998,158 and International Publication No. WO 93/04880. However, such equipment was typically made of welded metal or molded of rigid plastic and was a relatively expensive permanent fixture which might not be readily available at the time the stand was to be moved.
The art also taught in U.S. Pat. No. 2,564,939; U.S. Pat. No. 3,087,740; U.S. Pat. No. 3,092,395; U.S. Pat. No. 3,135,527; U.S. Pat. No. 3,285,620; U.S. Pat. No. 3,292,942; U.S. Pat. No. 3,427,040; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,125,675, the use of shopping carts and trolleys, not erectable display stands made of cardboard material. However, even those units had a permanent construction in the sense that their wheels were permanently mounted on the carts and trolleys, and were meant to be re-used.
In the field of display stands made of corrugated board material, U.S. Pat. No. 5,443,168 and International Publication No. WO 94/19642 disclosed wheeled stands where a wheeled assembly was permanently built into the stand itself. The same was true for my earlier U.S. Pat. No. 5,628,523. Such built-in stands were, however, relatively expensive to fabricate, and the cost of such fabrication did not lend such stands to be discarded after its initial use.
My earlier U.S. Pat. No. 5,711,438 disclosed the convenient and rapid attachment and removal of a pre-assembled wheeled assembly on a foldable, erectable display stand. This stand has satisfied the market requirement for reducing the time, cost and handling required to move and re-position a loaded stand, without sacrificing the strength required by the stand to support articles of substantial weight. Even so, experience has shown that improvements can be offered to enable the loaded stand to be more easily moved, especially by a forklift, and to enable the loaded stand to be handled, even roughly, without the wheeled assembly becoming inadvertently dislodged from the stand and possibly becoming detached therefrom.